Study reveals danger-soaked side of drinking games

Drinking games, a staple of the college lifestyle, may provide danger as well as fun.

"The biggest danger with drinking games is that you lose control over how much you're drinking," said Chris Correia, associate professor of psychology. "You put yourself in a situation where you might be drinking more than you normally would or more than you can handle in that period of time."

Correia published a study in 2010 that showed a correlation between participation in drinking games and alcohol-related problems.

Problems included having trouble studying, experiencing withdrawal symptoms and going to school or work drunk.

"With drinking games, I think the reason that you see such a high correlation with those problems is because people are drinking at really elevated levels," said Jenni Cameron, who co-authored the study.

Cameron graduated from Auburn in August with her Ph.D. in clinical psychology.

The fast-paced nature of drinking games is also a contributing factor, according to Mark Silvestri, graduate student in psychology.

"If you think of Flip Cup, for example, it's a pretty fast and rapid game," Silvestri said. "You can consume a good amount of alcohol in a short amount of time, and what that does is, obviously, it makes you drunk fast because your BAC spikes up much higher."

Cameron said drinkers often lose track of how much alcohol they have consumed and consequently drink more.

"Consumption games" such as Century Club are especially dangerous, where participants drink an ounce of beer every minute for 100 minutes, Cameron said.

"The other ones that are really high are the chance games--stuff like Kings, Circle of Death, Three Man--the ones where there really aren't any rules," Cameron said. "What you drink literally just comes down to the flip of a card or the roll of a dice."

Cameron said the prevalence of drinking games on college campuses stems, in part, from the large population of students under 21.

"Before you're able to go to the bars and get in legally, it's something that you can do when you're hanging out and drinking with people," Cameron said.

Correia said books, video games and even national tournaments market to college students one of the most popular drinking games: Beer Pong.